Hands from the Shadows
by Randivaskil
Summary: Luffy has finally achieved his dream of becoming king of the pirates, but neither he nor his crew could have known that one of his nakama is going to betray him.  Presented as a series of flashbacks and stories as an OC talks to a captive Luffy.
1. Betrayal

**OK, I'm going to go ahead and give this a try. I had promised myself I wasn't going to write anything, but, really, I just can't help it. I can't promise a regular posting schedule because it all depends on how much I am enjoying writing this. Nor can I promise intelligence within the writing, but I will try my hardest. As time goes on I'm sure that my author's notes will get more relaxed and random/informative, depending on what mood I'm in.**

**This story takes place about two months after Luffy has become the Pirate King, and everyone knows who he is. Not that they didn't know who he was before, but everyone knows he has become the pirate king… yeah… **

**I'm going to follow the manga very closely in what happened, but some of the details may get a little skewed. Please, let me know if they do and I'll try to fix it. However please excuse the skewed details where my OC intervened. Happens to the best of us…**

**I don't own One Piece. Oda does. I do, however, own Thana, and some of the scenes that I will put her in, in the future.  
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**Right, now that has been established, let us begin.**

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><p>She watched him wake, patiently leaning against the wall, legs crossed before her and arms folded over her chest. He stirred slowly, eyes fluttering, the chains on his hands clinking against the hard stone floor. His face was partially obscured by one of the bars of his cell, but this didn't concern her. She knew when he would wake without seeing his face; for she had drugged him carefully while taking into account everything she knew about him. His tendency to eat more than seemed humanly possible, his ridiculous metabolism, even his resistance to poisoning after his encounter with Magellan in Impel Down was all carefully calculated and accounted for. She knew him well, she knew her poisons well, and she knew exactly when he would wake.<p>

_5…4…3…2…1…_

He rapidly returned to consciousness at the end of her count down, jumping to his feet and making towards the cell door by reflex. He didn't make it far before his hands flew backwards and he landed hard back on the floor, the chains having snapped taught as his movement having removed the little slack there was. He glared about wildly, and then spotted her. She hadn't moved a muscle since he had awoken nor flinched when he fell.

"Thana," he wined, confusion and hurt in every syllable, hands yanking continuously against the cuff, expecting them to slip right off. "What's going on? Where are we? Help me, please, _Thana_."

"Luffy." She said, dropping to the floor and crawling towards him. "Are you alright?"

It was well played out. The breath and slight pitch rise on the opening word, rushing through the syllables and slipping on the articulation. Eyes wide, lips slightly parted, muscles tense. Every sound and move perfectly placed to convey pure unflinching loyalty and worry. Only her eyes belied her concern for her captain. Her eyes were cold, distant, and full of maliciousness.

Her captain, however, missed this. And why would he have seen it. Throughout his journey Thana had been by his side, protecting him, caring for him, rescuing him from any and all trouble he would undoubtedly find himself in. He trusted her completely.

"Don't strain, Luffy. The cuffs are made of sea stone. You aren't going to be able to get out of them by yanking your hand off," she said smiling sadly. He instantly obeyed her, and all of the tension in his body relaxed. He completely expected her to get him out of this, just as she had said she always would get him out of trouble.

"Get them off Thana. I don't like them," he said childishly.

She opened her mouth to convey some heartfelt apology about how she was unable to right now, but would be working her hardest to find a way, when her words were interrupted by the bang of the door down the hallway being opened much harder than was strictly necessary for any door. Thana straightened up from her crouch, the concern tightening her body flowing off of like water, as her body resumed the relaxed stance it had occupied before Luffy had called out to her.

The sound of heavily booted feet walking down the hallway drifted to the two crewmates before a heavyset, angry looking man approached them.

"What are you doing?"

Thana pretended to salute the man as sarcasm oozed from every pore. Her arm was bent, fingers sloppy, one leg still bent, and her body tilting to the side as she saluted the man with a flick of the wrist.

"Merely having some fun with the prisoner," she replied back after an infuriating pause.

Luffy gaped quietly at her, but he waited. He believed this was all a part of the plan to get him out of here.

The man glared at her then snapped out "That is not what you should be doing. You were told quite clearly to guard the prisoner and inform one of us when he had awoken. Those were your orders and the only reason you got to stay here."

"Well, clearly he's woken up now," she drawled, attempting to infuriate the unfortunate marine even further.

He snapped, and grabbed for his sword, which was dangling from a sheath on his belt. Before he could even complete the reach Thana was behind him and a strange crack rang out. The man crumpled, cradling a hand that was bent in a direction that a wrist would never naturally go.

"Don't think that you can give me orders, marine. I could kill you before you even blinked. _Don't_ mess with me. I know the orders I have been given, and they have no relation to what I'm doing for you. Your word means as much to me as dirt. Still plan on trying to discipline me?"

"Yeah!" Luffy shouted from his cell. "That will teach you to mess with my nakama."

The marine ignored Luffy's statement, shooting Thana a dirty look. It didn't bother her in the least. Why would it? No look was going to hurt her. She continued to stand relaxed before the marine, waiting for him to do something. Either he would challenge her or he would run. He chose the second option. Cradling his broken wrist, the marine got slowly to his feet and ran down the hallway. The door slammed closed.

"Thanks Thana," Luffy said softly. "Can we go now?"

Thana had returned to leaning against the wall, her brows wrinkled in a frown. She found that her conflict with the marine had spoiled her mood, and that the desire to toy with Luffy's emotions even more had completely deserted her. This bothered her, for she had been looking forward to seeing just how far she could get him to snap when he realized the truth. But, if she wasn't in the mood, she wasn't in the mood. May as well move on to the snap part.

"No," she said shortly.

"Whaat?" Luffy whined. "Why not!"

"Have you already forgotten how you wound up here in the first place?" she asked, irritated at his obtuseness, despite the fact that her actions during the time that she had traveled with him had been designed to get Luffy to completely trust her. He always had trusted unconditionally.

Luffy's face slowly clouded over as she spoke. " Then let me remind you of what happened."

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><p>Thana sat at her deak, pretending to work as she heard the over-eager footsteps of her captain heading towards her room. She moved a pot of water that was near the door before Luffy barged in. He stumbled when he tried to stop, and then fell face first to the ground, face landing right where the pot had been moments before.<p>

"Hello, Luffy. Can I help you?" Thana said softly, not even turning around to see if her wayward captain was all right. He was, and he quickly jumped back up.

"Thana," he wined. "Time to eat. Come eat with us. The food is all ready. It is time to eat."

"Thanks, Luffy, I understood that the first time you said it," Thana turned around, laughing, leg straddling the back of the chair, backrest and arms supporting her head. Luffy stood before her, hat slightly askew from his fall.

"Good!" Luffy nodded enthusiastically, further unbalancing his hat, then turned towards the door and walked away. When he noticed that Thana wasn't following he turned around and hurried back. Thana hadn't changed her position yet, knowing that her captain wouldn't give up that easily.

"Thana, time to eat."

"Yes, Luffy I got that the first two time."

"Come on, then."

"I can't."

"But it is time to eat!" he whined loudly. "Thana, I want to go eat!"

"Then go eat," Thana told him, pretending to be stern. "I'm not stopping you."

"But you should be there!" Luffy said. "You even helped to make the meal." He added as an afterthought.

Thana laughed. Yes, she had helped to make the meal. Sanji had been reluctant at first but all it took was a "please", a sweet smile, and a tilt of the head and he caved in like a hollow marshmallow. He never had been able to deny the women onboard what they wanted. This instance had ended the same as always did, Sanji walking to the kitchen, his eyes turned into hearts and a victorious Thana coming up behind.

"I made it really special for you, Luffy." Thana said, a playful smile spreading across her face, eyes laughing as her captain tried to prevent himself from running to the kitchen to make sure he got his share of the food. He really was quite determined to drag his last crewmember along with him.

"Really," Thana pressed. "I have to finish up here. I'll be up once I'm done."

"Come eat with us Thana."

"You know what I want you to do?"

"What!"

"I want you to go up there, eat a heaping plate of meat, and enjoy it enough for the both of us. Kay?"

"Okay!" Luffy yelled over his shoulder, happy to follow his friend's request. He quickly raced away, heading towards the kitchen.

Thana laughed loud enough for Luffy to hear as he tore away, but once he was out of hearing distance, the laughter quickly dried up and her eyes and face lost all of their mirth. She had a job to do.

Thana slowly stood from her chair and began to walk towards the door. As she passed the shelf just to the left of the door she picked up a pair of sea stone handcuffs that were hidden behind a large potted plant.

As she made her way closer to the kitchen Thana slowed down her steps. It wouldn't do to be spotted too soon by her crewmates. She worked her way up to the door making absolutely no noise. She watched carefully from the door as her crew, laughing and shouting, gathered around the dinner table. Luffy was whining for food, but when Sanji put a plate of meat before him he glared at the chef.

"More!" He said.

Sanji's foot banged into the top of Luffy's head, knocking his forehead into the table, hard. "Don't you have enough!" he shouted.

Luffy looked up innocently. "But Thana told me to have a _heaping_ plate because she can't join us."

Nami glanced up from her plate. "What, Thana not coming up again? That's the third dinner she's missed now."

"I knooow," Luffy complained loudly. "I tried to get her to come up, but she wouldn't."

"Thana will come up when she's ready to." Robin said calmly. "She's been working very hard on something for the past while. Let her finish with it. She wouldn't be focused on eating even if she had come up. She'd want to be back down there working on it."

By this time Sanji had added several pieces of meat to Luffy's plate and he was shoving the food in his mouth as fast as he could, seeming completely unconcerned for the reason he was missing a crewmember. After all there was food to be eaten.

Dinner continued on with its usual amount havoc as Thana watched from the door. The food vanished almost as fast as Sanji could bring it over. Hopefully the cook would get his share. In fact, it was essential that he did.

Towards the end of the meal Sanji sat down with his own plate of food, and, fending off Luffy's not so sneaky hand, quickly ate.

When everyone was done there was a general shoving back from the table. Nami stood up and walked to the wall to get away from the noise the boys were making. No one had noticed Thana. Of course they hadn't. They wouldn't notice her unless she wanted them to notice her.

Sanji quickly gathered up the dishes and began to walk towards the sink when Zoro's poorly timed stretch happened to land his leg exactly where Sanji was about to place his foot. Sanji stumbled, the plates teetering precariously, and turned to glare at the swordsman.

"Watch where you stretch, marimo. I almost dropped the plates."

"Watch where you place your foot dartboard. I wasn't trying to get in your way."

"Oh, yeah, I think you did it on purpose."

"I didn't"

Sanji set the stacked dished in the sink carefully before whirling about to Zoro. A fight seemed moments from breaking out. The two men glared at each other, Zoro with one hand resting on a sword, Sanji balanced carefully on the balls of his feet. The rest of the crew quickly retreated to the walls to watch.

The fight would have soon begun, since Sanji and Zoro continued to hurl insults at each other, had the poison in the food not taken effect that moment. With a small noise Nami slumped from where she was leaning against the wall to crumple against the floor, rag-doll like.

Instantly all the conflict broke off and everyone rushed over to Nami. Chopper pushed his way through the crowd and carefully felt Nami's forehead and wrist. Luffy was standing on the edge of the crowd, bouncing, trying to see his navigator. His legs were shaking slightly, so the poison had begun to affect him too. But Luffy ignored it, more concerned for his injured nakama.

"She's unconscious," Chopper pronounced for every ones benefit before falling to the floor in a dead faint. For a moment there was complete silence as everyone stared at the unconscious reindeer until Robin's slight form hit the floor.

The silence quickly fled the room with Luffy's shout.

"What should we do?" Luffy cried out to the room at large. But his words weren't enough to stop Franky and Zoro from fainting.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Usopp chanted as he stared at his fallen comrades. "We are all dead!" then he too fell, long nose squishing almost comically against the floor.

Sanji leaned against the wall as his legs threatened to give out on him, one hand placed on the counter for support. "What could have happened?" he murmured. "What happened tonight that doesn't happen every night." He glanced at the dirty dishes in the sink then up to the doorway where Thana stood, backlit by the rising moon.

'Thana," he said on a breath before collapsing to the floor.

Luffy looked around at his cook's softly spoken word.

"Thana," he shouted, relieved. Thana quickly strode into the room and over to Sanji where she grabbed his wrist and felt his pulse. It was slow and steady. The balance of poison seemed to be working nicely. It had been tricky to figure out what poisons to put in which dishes of food and the quantity of each poison. Individually the poisons had little effect, but the combinations depending on what each crewmember ate would affect each person in the proper way to incapacitate them. However, had the crewmembers eaten differently that night than they usually did some of the combinations might have caused permanent damage. She was glad to see that none of them had. She had to take them in alive.

Luffy had creped up behind her and questioned, "are they going to be alright?" right into her ear. Thana whirled about, on edge, but forced herself to appear relaxed.

"They'll be alright Luffy." She said.

"Good!" the pirate said, heaving a sigh. "For a little while there I was really worried, but it is going to be alright. You said so."

That was when his legs gave out. He sat down hard on the floor, looking up at Thana in confusion.

"I feel a little sleepy Thana. It ok if I take a nap?"  
>"Of course Luffy." She said, watching her captain lay down. Then she looked about the room. The only member of the crew left standing was Brook, who was crouching worriedly over Nami.<p>

"Can you help me carry Luffy to the infirmary please, Brook," Thana questioned. The skeleton nodded and walked over to his crewmate.

"You sure it'll be ok," he asked as he bent over, looking down on his unconscious captain.

Thana took his distraction as the perfect opportunity to move. She jumped behind Brook, securing his wrists in the cuffs concealed in one hand. Then she shoved him to the floor from which he was unable to lift himself up without his hands.

"I said that they would be alright, not that it would be alright." She replied to the flabbergasted skeleton before knocking him out with a well-placed blow to the head.

She moved back over to Luffy.

"My, my," she murmured to him. "Still awake captain? Well, that will make things more interesting when you wake back up."

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><p>Luffy's eyes were wide as he stared at his crewmate, then pain flooded his eyes. Thana started clapping, slowly and sarcastically.<p>

"Very good," she drawled. "You do remember."

"So it really happened…" Luffy said, his eyes showing a hurt that had never touched him before, even in the most serious of situations. "You betrayed us."

"My dear captain," Thana sneered, starting to laugh. "I have been intending to betray you since the very first time we met."

That seemed to sap out all of the remaining will Luffy had stored up inside of him. He slumped against the wall, eyes staring vacantly out as the woman who had been the first member of his crew, his support through everything, the central pillar of his life, stared back at him, laughing softly at his pain. Ignoring him. Leaving him lost. Betrayed. Hurt beyond all measures of the word. Feeling that nothing worse could happen to him now. He may as well be dead.

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><p><strong>Soooo? Whada ya think?<strong>

**Thana and Luffy's back-story will get clearer as time goes on. There is a whole fun complicated story behind Thana's reason for betraying him that will come out as the story progresses.**


	2. When

**People were reading it! That makes me very happy!**

**I fixed a few small errors in the first chapter, but nothing changed within the story itself. Just a few things involving formatting. I'm not quite sure why I told you this…**

**I'm enjoying writing this a lot more than I had expected to… Makes me inclined to keep going!**

**Still lacking anything interesting to say here. Well, then perhaps I should be saying less here, and more in the story!**

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><p>Four days later, Thana returned to Luffy's cell. The guards had told her that the mind games she had played with him had kept him silent and unresponsive for almost three days.<p>

They said that once he had started moving again he had asked to see her almost continuously until one of them promised they would pass the message along to her. It hadn't taken her long to decide that she would go and see him, but she chose to wait another day beyond that decision. No need for Luffy to think that she wanted to see him. But, knowing him, that would be exactly the conclusion he would reach anyways.

Thana walked down the hallway slowly, then stood across from Luffy's cell, leaning against the wall, exactly the position she had held four days ago while waiting for him to awaken. Luffy sat cross-legged on the floor a couple of feet away from the back wall of his cell.

"You wanted to see me, Luffy,"

For a few moments Luffy simply stared at her, then he spoke.

"Why?"

Thana smiled at her captain. It wasn't a surprising first question, but it wasn't the one she would have expected from him.

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because it matters."

"Indeed it does. How very observant of you."

Luffy grinned, completely missing the sarcasm in that statement. He was pleased to be able to fall back into the friendly routine of being praised by his friend. However, when she didn't continue to answer his question he tilted his head to the side, prompting her to continue. When she still didn't say anything he pushed her further.

"Tell me because I'm your captain."

"Correction: You _were_ my captain."

"No, you are still part of my crew."

"You still want me as part of your crew?"

"Yes."

For a moment Thana didn't answer. That was such a very Luffy thing to say, but it still surprised her. She didn't let a flicker of that feeling cross her expression, though. The only thing Luffy would be able to read in her face was a distant boredom.

"I betrayed you, and your friends."

"Yes. You did." There was pain in those words, but beneath it rang out a little bit of hope. "But I cannot believe that the Thana that I knew so well is gone for good. Somewhere beneath that cold exterior she is just waiting for me to pull her out."

Luffy could be such a wise fool sometimes.

"Pick a point, and start talking," he said.

Pick a point? She knew the point when her betrayal had begun, but she wasn't going to talk to Luffy about that. So, she applied the best diversionary tactic she could come up with. Luffy's feelings for his nakama.

"Shouldn't you feel more concern for your crewmates rather than the reason that I betrayed you?"  
>"At first I was," Luffy said sadly. "I felt like I had let them down. But then something you said to me changed my mind."<p>

"And what was that?"

"You said they would be all right."

Again, Luffy had shocked her. He pulled hope from something that she had said while in the act of betraying him.

For now his crew would be ok. Whether or not they stayed in that state of being was not up to her.

When the silence had stretched on for another couple of minutes Luffy began to pester her again.

"Tell me why Thana"

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

"No."

"Tell me why Thana,"

"What difference does it make?"

"It may help me to figure out where my crewmate went."

Again, with that idea that the Thana he knew was buried inside of her, covered by some sort of mind control.

"Tell me why Thana."

For a moment Thana considered just walking away, but she knew that wouldn't solve her problem. Luffy would just pester his guards endlessly until one of them dragged her back because they couldn't stand Luffy's continuous talking.

"Why, Thana. What moment made you want to betray me to the Government?"

"It isn't that simple, Luffy." Thana hadn't been intending to answer him. It would only encourage him. But it seemed that the habit of answering Luffy's questions that she had acquired onboard the ship hadn't left her yet. How bothersome.

At Thana's statement Luffy scooted backwards and leaned against the wall, staring at her expectantly. Thana let out a irritated sigh.

"The moment when I realized I may someday have to betray you? It was when you asked me to join your crew. Before then it was only some faceless figure."

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><p>Within a restaurant on an island in East Blue Thana sat on an ill-made barstool, elbows resting against the edge of the restaurant's bar, hands cradling her head. Between her elbows was an empty plate of food; still covered in the grease from the plate of supposed chicken she had just finished eating, and a half-empty mug of ale off to the right. On both sides of her some rather uncouth looking men were leering at her and grinning at each other. They clearly weren't up to any good, but at the moment Thana couldn't quite bring herself to care.<p>

She had been sent out into the greater world, dropped off at a place about which she knew nothing, and left to choose her own target.

Yes, this was a chance that many people would have dreamed of, and something Thana herself had longed for. That was, until it was actually given to her. Now she wasn't so sure it wouldn't have been easier to have been assigned to someone. And so she sat, trying to ignore the increasingly bold actions of the men on either side of her, watching the grease pool on her plate, and taking periodic sips from her mug. This was the life.

It didn't take the men long to become daring, or perhaps drunk, enough to decide that the young woman sitting between them was a prime target. One of them reached out and grabbed on to her forearm, interrupting her brooding.

Thana, who had been expecting this since the two men had sat down on either side of her didn't flinch, or even bother to look around. The men, displeased with her lack of reaction, glared at her, and then at each other. The man who had a hold on her arm let go, seeming perfectly willing to go find another, more amusing, target. The second man, however, wasn't willing to give up so easily.

"What," he leered at Thana. "Too good for us, are ya, bitch?"

"Not interested, boys," Thana said mildly. "Nor in the mood."

The man seemed to be getting more and more irritated as Thana continued to ignore him. It took him a couple of seconds of staring, but then his hand reached out and pulled her face by the chin to look at him.

"Let go," Thana said, a flare of temper entering into her words.

The man, pleased with this reaction, smirked, then added, "Make me."

Said man would have found himself with a broken arm, or at least a couple of fingers, had not the doors been nearly ripped of their hinges as a young man, face partially obscured by a straw hat, barreled in, looking about wildly.

The man who had been holding Thana's face let go, shocked, and with a well placed twist of her foot Thana caused the barstool to slip out from under him, and he landed hard on the dirty wood floor.

The young man saw the empty barstool and hurried over, sitting down on its forcibly vacated seat. He waved at the barman, who had been hanging out at the opposite end of the bar, very pointedly ignoring Thana and her two abusers. However, at the young man's enthusiastic waving, he hurried over.

After he had attracted the barman's attention he turned to Thana. Beneath the shadow of his hat she could see a pair of over-excited eyes surrounded by some strands of short black hair.

"Thanks, miss." He said, apparently under the impression that Thana had dumped the other man from the seat just so that he could sit down.

Thana snorted, but there was a laugh mixed into that snort. She had seen some strange people, but this guy topped the list.

However, for sheer stupidity, the man on the floor, staring at the stranger who was sitting in his seat, took first place. Apparently deciding that Thana really had dumped him to the floor to give this man his seat he stood up and punched the young man in the back of the head so hard that it sent him tumbling over the bar, his straw hat flying up towards the ceiling.

Thana was up and moving before the young man even seemed to register that he had been hit. She jumped, snagging the straw hat in one hand, the other hand balanced on the bar so that she could send her left leg flying around in a well-placed snap kick to the temple, rendering her target instantly unconscious. He would wake up in a few hours with a splitting headache, but no worse damage than that.

The idiot's partner stared at Thana in shock before hoisting his unconscious comrade and hurrying out of the restaurant, followed quickly by the rest of the restaurant's patrons.

With the two fools taken care of Thana went to check on the young man, straw hat still gripped carefully in one hand. However, as she leaned over the bar she saw a quickly moving black object coming towards her. She snapped her head back just in time, and the young man's head narrowly missed colliding with her forehead.

"Eh," he called out to the room. "What happened?" Then, noticing the conspicuous lack of occupants left in the restaurant, "Where'd everyone go?"

"I'd say," Thana said, laughing at the young man's expression of perfect befuddlement, "that they all left at about the time that I decided that the man who hit you needed to take a nap."

"A nap?" The young man questioned. "Why did he have to take a nap?"

Seeing right away that this foolish person thought that the nap had been of the man's own volition Thana chose to clarify.

"I knocked him out."

"Ooh," he said, his expression lighting up with understanding. Then, quite suddenly he began tearing about the room, lifting tables and chairs, clearly looking for something.

"What are you doing," Thana questioned loudly, making sure that he could hear her over the ruckus he was causing in his search.

"I lost my hat!" The young man screamed back. He continued to search around the restaurant, in cupboards, around the barstools, and even in the barkeeper's pockets as Thana tried to draw his attention to the fact that she was holding his hat.

Finally, after having seemingly checked every single place within the restaurant, he noticed that Thana was holding his hat out to him.

He immediately settled down and grabbed it from her with a grateful "thanks."

"No problem," Thana laughed. How could she not? Somehow this man's ridiculously foolish actions were just funny, and not irritating, as most other stupidity seemed to be. Perhaps it was because there was so much innocence in his idiocy.

The young man hurried over to the bar and sat down on a stool, once again waving at the bartender. The barman hurried over, determined to get this crazy young man out of his restaurant before he caused any more damage.

"Food." The young man said before the bartender could even ask.

"What would you like?"

The young man looked at the barkeeper as if he was a moron. "Fooood." He said, very slowly.

The bartender blinked, but decided to not to continue to question exactly what type of food this strange person wanted.

As he turned towards the kitchen to get a plate of food Thana sat down on the stool to the young man's left.

"You are aware he was inquiring what type of food you wanted, right?"

"Oh," he said, then shouted" MEEEAAAT" after the departed bartender.

Thana laughed again. She seemed to have been doing that a lot since this crazy young man had walked in.

The bartender returned with a plate of the same greasy chicken that Thana had been eating earlier. He set it down in front of the young man, and then turned around.

"That was good," the young man said. The bartender whirled around, to see the plate completely cleared of every scrap of chicken on it.

"More" he said to the gaping bartender. The bartender raced away as the young man sat impatiently, fork and knife banging against the bar.

"Did you know," Thana inquired sarcastically "That there is this wonderful thing called chewing that you are supposed to do when you eat food?"

The young man turned to her, grinned, and, seeming to want to avoid the question, stuck out a hand.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man who is going to be the king of the pirates."

Thana shook the offered hand patiently, and then pointed to the bar.

"Your food is here," she said.

Luffy whirled about to face the bar and immediately dove into the plate of food, clearing it faster than seemed humanly possible. He stacked the dish on top of the previous plate, and then looked back to the barkeeper with an expectant expression. The man quickly scampered away to get another plate.

Luffy turned back to Thana, clearly planning to pick up the conversation right where it had left off before the food had shown up. When Thana didn't seem inclined to do likewise he prompted her.

"So," he said, "Who are you?"

"Thana," she offered slowly.

"Thana, nice to meet you." Then he turned back to the bar where two plates of food were waiting. He cleared them both, shoving the first plate aside as soon as he had finished with it and causing the previous two plates to wobble precariously on the edge of the bar. Thana snagged them before they could fall off and set them to her left, where they would be safely out of his sphere of influence.

Luffy slowly cleared through most of the restaurant's food supply as he explained to Thana how he had left his village to become king of the pirates, but how he had ran out of food not far into the journey and needed to stop to resupply. He also told her how he was looking for a crew to join him on his adventures as he was making his way to the Grand Line.

Thana enjoyed listening to Luffy's adventures, even though they didn't consist of much right now. There was something enthusiastic about the boy that made his ideas seem all too possible, but beneath it ran a core of iron-hard certainty that made Thana sure that this young man believed with all of his heart that he would become king of the pirates. He didn't expect it to be easy, but that didn't change the fact he was entirely convinced that it would happen.

Eventually the barman simply decided that he wouldn't bring Luffy another plate.

"No," he said firmly, "You have had enough. Now pay and get out of here so that my other customers will come back."

Luffy looked up at the barman with an expression of wide-eyed innocence.

"But I don't have any money," he said to the extremely irritated barman.

At that Thana burst out laughing.

"Run," she told Luffy still laughing.

Luffy took a moment to look at her seriously, and then he grabbed her wrist and bolted for the door. Thana almost reflexively broke his hold, but as she was yanked off her seat she decided that it wouldn't be such a bad ides for her to run as well, because she definitely didn't have the money to pay for Luffy's meal, and the bartender would probably insist that she do so.

Luffy broke through the doors, laughing as he tore up the street, Thana being dragged along behind him.

They ran through the twisting back alleyways of the town, trying to ensure that any potential pursuers were thoroughly lost. Eventually Luffy stopped, panting, and still laughing.

"Your crazy," Thana said, unable to help but laugh as the young man collapsed back onto the ground, tongue hanging out, his hat flopping off his head to spin on the ground.

Luffy grinned widely up at her, still panting. Thana offered him a hand, which he pulled himself up on.

"We should keep moving," Thana said. At Luffy's depressed expression she clarified. "I'm not saying we have to keep running, just that we have to keep moving."

"Ok," Luffy said, heading back the way that they had just come from. For a moment Thana considered letting him know, but in the end it really didn't matter that much. So she followed along behind him.

They wandered around for a little while, Luffy leading, before they ran into the ambush. It was one of the wider alleyways, with absolutely no places to hide. When the people poured into the alley Thana reacted on instinct. She grabbed Luffy's shoulder and whirled him around so that he was facing back the way they had come and they were standing back to back. Hopefully he knew how to fight well. She expected him to, for how could he become king of the pirates without knowing how to fight?

Instead of rushing forward to take the two cornered people the crowd parted aside slightly to allow another man to step to the foreground. But it wasn't the irate bartender. No, the person who came forward was the crude man who had been causing Thana and Luffy so much trouble earlier. It seemed that when he realized that he wasn't going to be able to deal with Thana on his own he went to get some reinforcements. Now he wanted to gloat.

The man stepped up to Thana, not close enough that she could easily reach him, but close enough to seem in charge of everything.

"You are going to regret what you did to me, you little bitch."

Luffy was looking curiously over Thana's shoulder.

"Who's that?" he inquired.

"That," Thana replied, sounding bored, "Is the man who hit you."

"Ah," Luffy said, then turned back around to face the mass of people who had been slowly creeping up on him while he watched the man from the bar. That man swore as he realized that the only plan he had to take care of his enemies, surprise attack, had been foiled by a simple look.

Calling the attack the man jumped forwards, pulling a heavy looking wooden club out from behind his back and aiming an attack for Thana's head. Thana easily dodged his clumsy swing and replied with two quick jabs, one to the solar plexus and the other to a nerve cluster in the neck, effectively rendering him unconscious once more.

This threat neutralized Thana reached back and pulled two wicked looking knives out from her waistband. Behind her, Thana heard screams coming out from Luffy's victims. So he did know how to fight, and knew how to do it well, by the sound of it. But she didn't have time to dwell on such things. Launching herself forwards she quickly dispatched anyone who came near her, pulling back so as to make sure there were no fatalities.

More than two thirds of the way through all of the people who had cornered them Thana finally had a chance to glance at Luffy. He had a pile of unconscious people surrounding him, almost as big as Thana's was. And what was even more surprising was the way he was fighting.

_Devil Fruit,_ Thana thought. _Nice!_

And less than a minute later there was no one left standing. Everyone had either run or was unconscious.

Thana walked over to one of the men she had more severely injured, bending over to check his eyes and pulse, when Luffy spoke.

"Thana?"

"Hmm?" Thana replied. The man didn't look too bad. He wouldn't be feeling so good when he finally woke up, but there was nothing that a couple weeks of bed rest wouldn't cure.

"Will you join my crew?"

Thana froze. Join Monkey D. Luffy's currently nonexistent crew?

Then again, why not? Wasn't this exactly the kind of person she had been looking for? Someone who was driven, who would go on to achieve great things? Yes, Luffy was exactly the kind of person she had been looking for.

So, she straightened up, turned to him, and smiled broadly.

"Of course I will, Luffy!"

* * *

><p>The memory had flowed so easily from her, and Luffy sat across from her now, the exact same expression on his face as he had worn back then. He had enjoyed listening to her telling of the past, even though he knew the story just as well as she did. He sat there, so pleased with himself for getting her to talk.<p>

"And that was the moment I decided I would have to betray you."

She said it to sober him up, to remind him that they weren't just a couple of friends sharing a story from the past. It wasn't strictly true. She hadn't decided to betray him then, although the knowledge that the day may come when she would have to was there.

Her plan sort of worked. The smile slipped from his face, but he still looked at her with those kind eyes of his.

"But I still don't understand _why_" he told her.

Well, of course he didn't. She hadn't told him why. She had told him when, which was what he had asked for. She wouldn't be telling him why.

There was no need to be telling him the why.

_Just as there was no need to tell him when,_ A small voice pressed in the back of her head, sounding vaguely reminiscent of the Thana she had pretended to be on the ship.

What, was she developing multiple personalities now? Shut up, little voice. I don't need you.

"Thana, you didn't tell me why."

She sighed. "No, Luffy, I didn't"

"Tell me why Thana."

"No, Luffy."

"Thana!"

"NO!"

And with that she left, feeling strangely as if she had lost that particular conversation. Feeling that Luffy had come out ahead.

She would have to make sure that didn't happen again. She couldn't allow him to get into her head. Not now.

* * *

><p><strong>Thana felt a little different in the last part of this chapter. Less in control. Was that just me? Personally, I think it was a good experience for her.<strong>

**The next flashback will involve a different character. Namely our favorite green-haired swordsman!**

**I'm debating whether or not to give Thana a devil fruit ability. Any opinions?**


	3. Dreaming

**Chapter 3: Never really expected to get this far… expected to have long since ran out of time. **

**Sorry this update took so long, I had an English essay to write, and then my family kept me busy over Thanksgiving break. Stuff just kept piling up. Glad now I didn't promise a posting schedule.**

**One thing I can promise is I'll let you know if I'm done. I won't just stop. I'll even try and finish it!**

**To anonymous reviews:**

**Yumi-chan** **- Thanks, and I'm glad that you are enjoying it. I have certainly enjoyed getting to write the relation between Thana and Luffy.**

**BANNANAWANI!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Tell me why Thana"<p>

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

"No."

"Tell me why Thana"

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

"No."

"Tell me why Thana"

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

"No."

In the end, she chose to simply ignore him, but that still didn't quit his asking. He kept on pestering her. So, she left.

* * *

><p>"Tell me why Thana"<p>

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

"No."

"Tell me why Thana"

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

"No."

"Tell me why Thana"

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

"No."

He would never. Shut. Up.

* * *

><p>"Tell me why Thana"<p>

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

"No."

"Tell me why Thana"

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

"No."

"Tell me why Thana"

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

"No."

"Tell me why Thana"

"No."

Was he really expecting a _different_ answer?

* * *

><p>"Tell me why Thana"<p>

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

"No."

"Tell me why Thana"

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

"No."

"Tell me why Thana"

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

"No."

"Tell me why Thana"

"No."

"Tell me why Thana."

She turned to go, then added, "If you keep asking that I won't come back"

* * *

><p>"How come we never noticed?"<p>

Thank god.

A _different_ question.

Apparently he finally figured out that she was getting quite tired of being pestered over something she wasn't going to answer.

"Never noticed what, Luffy?"

"Never noticed that you were going to betray us."

"Because I know how to act."

He paused for a moment, face wrinkled in confusion.

"So, no one ever thought otherwise?"  
>Thana let out a short snort. "Almost," she said.<p>

"Almost?"

"Yes, almost."

"How almost?"

Surely there was no harm in talking about that?

* * *

><p>The wind snapped in the rigging, blowing Thana's hair about her face and across her eyes. She, however, ignored the tendrils and continued to stare out at the ocean from the bow of the ship. Going Merry pushed her way smoothly through the calm waters of East Blue, casting a small rainbow up within the spray of water. Thana gazed at the rainbow, the strange pattern of water in the wind, and the world in general.<p>

However, when she heard the footsteps of her captain coming up behind her, her trance was quickly broken. She jumped up onto the railing of the ship, balancing carefully on the narrow beam, then flipped away over the head of a gawking Luffy.

He grinned, and then called to Zoro, "Seeeeee! Thana's willing to play."

Zoro turned a glower onto Luffy, and then gave one to Thana. There was something much colder in his look when his eyes rested on her then when he'd been looking at Luffy.

Thana chose to ignore the look for the moment. She'd have a talk with Zoro tonight, when he was on watch and Luffy and the rest of the crew were safely asleep.

"What exactly am I playing now, Luffy?" Thana questioned playfully.

"Tag!" Luffy shouted back.

Thana laughed, and then flitted about behind Luffy, gently lifting his hat off of his head in the process and flinging it accurately up into the crow's nest.

"Than I'd guess you were it,"

Luffy gaped again, then shouted, "Unfair!"

It took Luffy a few moments to catapult himself up into the crows nest and gently settle his hat back on his head. Thana used this moment to dash around the tangerine trees, vault over the railing, and land cat-like on the lower deck. Usopp was cowering behind the mast, looking worriedly about for Luffy. When he spotted Thana he crawled over.

"Help me, Thana," he pleaded, hands clasped before him and head bowed.

Thana grinned back teasingly. "No can do," she said, "I'm playing too,"

Usopp stared back at her, then pretended to faint.

"I'm screwed," he said, folding his arms over his chest in an imitation of the coffin pose. Then, Luffy dropped down from above, shouting like a madman, hat placed firmly upon his head. Usopp ran, screaming, pursued by a laughing Luffy and Thana.

From the railing above Zoro watched Thana run around the lower deck with his crew-mates, laughing. His fingers tightened on the railing, and his jaw clenched. From the kitchen Nami stepped out and walked over to him. Her hands draped over the railing, and she too watched her crew-mates, but she smiled softly, as opposed to Zoro's glower.

They stood like this for a few moments, watching their crew-mates play. Thana chased after Luffy, then suddenly darted aside and tapped Usopp on the head. He glared at her, shouting something about a deal. Luffy gaped at Thana, then they both tackled her, burying her under limbs and feet.

Zoro had leaned forward over the railing when they tackled Thana, and Nami turned to look at him.

"Does she look like she is going to hurt them," she asked with a gesture to the pile of limbs, where Thana was surfacing from, a wide smile plastered over her face.

Zoro didn't answer, only narrowed his gaze onto Thana.

"I wish you could trust her," Nami said. "Thana is a good person."

When Zoro still didn't respond she turned to go.

"Fine," she called over her shoulder. "But you are going to have to get used to her. Luffy is as devoted to her as he was to me. Maybe even more. He'd go to the ends of the world to get her back."

Zoro glared after Nami's retreating back.

"We'll have to see about that." he said, coldly.

It was late at night, the moon high in the sky, when Thana emerged from the room she shared with Nami to crawl onto the deck. Everyone on the ship was soundly asleep, curled up and snoring. Everyone, that was, except Zoro and Thana.

Zoro was up in the crows nest, keeping watch. Thana crawled slowly up the mast then balanced on the railing of the crows nest, behind the seated Zoro.

There she sat, watching the swordsman breathe, waiting for him to notice her.

It took him a couple of minutes, during which Thana didn't move a muscle. Finally he seemed to notice something out of the corner of his eye. He leaped up, drawing his sword as he moved. Thana could have dodged the sword, but she chose not to. And less than a second after Thana found herself noticed by the swordsman there was a quivering sword point less than an inch from her chest.

She didn't even flinch.

"Hello Zoro," she said calmly. "Going to kill me?"

He didn't answer, he didn't kill her, and he didn't put away his sword. It seemed that they were stuck at a moment in time, waiting for something to happen.

Thana chose to wait, and after a few moments of deadly stillness Zoro spoke.

"What are you doing here, Thana."

"I came to talk to you," she said softly, almost sadly.

_Or perhaps to kill you,_ she added silently. It was unlikely, but still possible.

Zoro still didn't sheathe his sword, but he lowered it a little.

"May I move, please?" she asked, still speaking softly, as though not to spook him.

He nodded sharply, and sheathed his sword. Thana slipped gently from the railing, landing softly on the balls of her feet. Then she sat, slowly, eyes never leaving the gaze of the angry swordsman.

When Zoro to seated himself Thana spoke.

"Why do you hate me?"

It was blunt, but Zoro didn't seem surprised. It seemed that he had been expecting this for quite some time.

"Because you are too good,"

Thana furrowed her brows, prompting Zoro to continue.

Zoro let out a sigh, resigning himself to an explanation.

"I've watched you, and don't pretend you haven't noticed. You have. You notice everything. And I know that you are hiding something. You are too good. You know what to say and how to act in every situation. And you are always, _always, _holding yourself back.

"And that tells more about you than you realize."

Unlikely.

"It tells me that you have nothing to go full out for."

It seemed that now that Thana had gotten him talking he wasn't going to stop. He seemed determined to tell her everything that was on his mind.

"And this is what worries me the most. Why the hell are you even here Thana? Why are you on this ship? Everyone is here because they believe in something. They have something that they are risking their lives to obtain. They have a _dream._

"But not you," he glared, cold and distant. "I don't know why you are here. And I don't trust that when the moment came you would lay down your life for Luffy and the rest of us.

"You have given me no reason to believe you wouldn't abandon us."

My, my. Little Zoro really had picked up a lot.

"You think I don't have a dream?"

It was out of her mouth before she had even realized that she was planning on talking. And there was hurt in those words. Hurt she hadn't even put in there.

Zoro stared at her, still cold and angry. It seemed her words hadn't affected him at all. Unsurprising, really.

But she was committed now, and so she let the words come.

"You," she said, almost angry. "You make it look so easy. ' I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman ' " she mocked. Was this helping her?

Zoro tensed, and a hand closed around the hilt of one of his swords.

"But it isn't that easy!"

She was shouting now, and forced herself to lower her voice.

"You can just say it. It is right there, so easy to define. You just grab it, and you're good to go. But my dream is buried so deep I 'm not even sure if it is there anymore."

No, no. She had to stop. This wasn't helping. This was getting far to close to the... to the truth.

Thana turned her back on Zoro. He would have already heard the truth in her words. There was no need for him to see it in her face too.

"You are right," she finally said. "I don't belong here. You are so open, so optimistic. It is so easy for you. I don't belong here. I'll never fit in.

"When we reach Loguetown I'll leave, and I won't come back when it is time to go."

And with that Thana stood up, walked over to the railing and jumped over it. She landed on the deck below like it had been only a five foot drop.

Zoro watched her go below deck. This had been what he had wanted. It was a good thing. Wasn't it?

Thana stayed up all night, staring at the ceiling. What on earth had she been thinking, promising she'd leave. She couldn't leave! She had a duty here, and she had signed herself to it the moment she'd agreed to join his crew. But she could come up with some excuse. It was best if she left.

_Best for you? Or best for Luffy?_

No, I can't think about that. If I start worrying about what is best for Luffy I'll never get anywhere.

I can't let myself.

Thana was awoken the next morning by the sound of Luffy's laughter. She rolled out of bed groggily, wishing she had been able to fall asleep better last night.

Shaking her head, Thana stumbled her way up to the deck, and made her way over to the bow, where the rest of the crew was gathered.

"Thana!" Luffy shouted when he saw her. "Take a look at this. I'm worth 30 million beli!"

His laughter was contagious, and Thana started to laugh along side him, not really caring what she was laughing about.

"This is not a good thing!" Nami shouted at them. "Now a bunch of people will want to kill you."

And then, Loguetown was in sight. Thana stopped laughing and turned to look at the town.

"'The city of the beginning and the end'" she heard from behind her.

My, didn't that feel appropriate?

They docked, and everyone jumped off the ship excitedly. Luffy started talking about wanting to see the execution place of Gol D. Rogers, and everyone quickly added in what they hoped to accomplish. Thana stayed silent, watching her friends race off excitedly. Then, back strait, she turned to walk along the docks until she found a place that she could wait until Luffy and his crew left.

She strolled along the dock, ignoring everyone who passed by her. It didn't take long to find a relatively peaceful looking bar. Thana walked to the doors and opened them, stepping in. She walked over to the bar and sat down heavily. Maybe her luck would hold out and she would meet another interesting person.

It was about an hour later when her musings were interrupted by the sound of someone sitting down on the stool next to her.

"You look depressed," aforementioned person said.

Thana didn't even bother to look around.

"Isn't that why most people end up at bars?" she replied.

The person laughed softly. "True," she said, "Although I would like to think some people come to have a good time."

Thana gave an impatient gesture to the bar, which was completely empty apart from the two of them. "Nothing but us brooders here right now."

Finally, after a few moments of silence, Thana decided to look up. The woman sitting next to her was a tall, lanky woman somewhere in her mid-twenties. She was neither pretty nor particularly ugly, but she had a presence that made it hard to ignore her if she didn't want to be ignored.

"So," she said, "Feel like spilling your troubles to a random person? That makes me feel better, if they really want to listen."

There was a brief pause, then, at Thana's silence, she added "Which I do."

Thana looked up with a sad smile on her face. "Thanks," she said politely, "But it really won't make any difference."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"May make you feel better."

"Unlikely."

"Won't know unless you try."

So, Thana started talking. She started out simply. Outlining her problem in the most basic of explanations.

"I joined a crew, and I just got kicked out."

"Why?"

Blunt.

"Because..." Thana let out a troubled sigh. "It's complicated."

"Isn't everything?"

Yes, everything most certainly was complicated.

And so the story slowly poured its way out onto the woman's patient ears. She never interrupted, and only spoke when Thana seemed on the verge of stopping.

After telling the tale to the woman's satisfaction she stood up. With a smile she turned to go. Just before she left the woman turned and said "It isn't that hard you know. Sharing your dream. You know where it is. Let it out."

Then, floating back over the closing door, "Feel better now?"

Then she was gone, before Thana could call her back.

Thana sat stunned for a few moments. Yes, she did feel better. And she also decided to go and watch them leave.

Than stood, payed for her drinks, and left the bar. Outside it was about to start storming. Thana smiled into the wind, and began to walk back to where the Going Merry was docked.

The storm had picked up, and Luffy, Zoro,and Sanji were racing for their ship as fast as they could. In a corner a figure stood and watched them run, a sad smile on her face. Usopp was holding onto the rope mooring the ship as hard as he could as Luffy and the rest pelted for the ship. They jumped on just as the rope slipped from Usopp's hand.

"Waaah!" Luffy shouted. "We made it! That was fun Thana!"

Strange, how she was the first person on his mind.

Luffy whirled about, then began running all over the ship. In a few moments he was screaming her name.

"THANA! THANA! THANA! THANA!"

From the dock of Loguetown Thana heard his voice, and for just a moment her resolution faltered.

"We have to turn around!" Luffy shouted to his crew.

Nami was already at the helm, pushing the rudder hard to starboard, but the wind was pushing the ship so hard that even when it had turned sideways Loguetown was still getting farther and farther away.

"THANA!" Nami screamed, her voice high-pitched and shrill with worry for her friend.

Thana began to run towards the edge of the dock. When she was there, she stood and waved calmly, telling them goodbye.

"THANA!" A masculine voice again, but this voice rang deeper than Luffy's. It was Zoro's voice. Calling her back.

"LUFFY!" Thana screamed, then the hand came out of nowhere and wrapped around her. Then she was flying, but she was grinning too.

_You will be mine, Monkey D. Luffy. I won't leave you._

And then she landed hard on the deck of the Going Merry, the crew, her crew, surrounding her.

"You had me worried." Luffy scolded.

"Sorry," and she meant it too.

And then Sanji was there a barrel in his hands.

"I want to find All Blue"

"I want to become Kind of the Pirates"

"I want to be a brave warrior of the seas"

"I want to draw a map of the world"

Zoro looked at her, then placed his foot on the barrel.

"I want to become an invincible swordsman"

Then they were all looking at her. She walked over, and looked at each of them in turn. But it was Zoro's eyes that she held as she placed her foot on the barrel and said,

"I want to be free!"

* * *

><p><strong>Felt it necessary to end it there. <strong>

**Sorry if things didn't flow as smoothly as they usually do. The person who I read my work**** to**** out loud so I can find my errors was absent. Thus I had to do it myself, and I always miss something.**

**Strange, this was the chapter I had in my head before I even came up with the plot, but somehow it didn't turn out as good as I had hoped it would.**

**Ah, well.**


	4. Chapter 4

I realized today that there is a very good chance I am never going to publish another chapter on this story. I have had too many things going on lately, and I just can't seem to find the motivation to continue. However, it felt wrong to just stop, so I decided to tell you.

To those of you that read it, thank you. I hope you enjoyed the little bit I published.

Maybe someday, if I ever figure out where I left my motivation, I may restart it.


End file.
